Contributor Amy Meyer recently put together an in–depth interview with #2 of Anti–Flag. The interview coincides with and discusses the band's new charity EP and covers both the rationale behind the release as well as Chris' very personal motivations. Amy explained:

After Anti–Flag's Chris #2's sister was murdered in February
of this year, the band decided to take some action and release A Benefit for
Victims of Violent Crime to raise money for
victims of violent crime, in this case her two children left behind. Along with discussing the situation with
his sister and the EP, #2 spills a little bit of the beans on the new record,
why he likes Justin Timberlake, and his RCA sugar daddy

Since this album is a benefit for victims of violent
crime, where exactly is the money going to?

It‚??s really easy to go, ‚??well if we sign to a major label, more people are going to hear us; therefore this is a good idea.‚?? The reason that logic is flawed is there is no guarantee more people are going to hear your music. You‚??re risking, you‚??re gambling a lot when you do something like this.

There‚??s one in particular called the Center for Victims of Violent
Crime (CVVC) in Pittsburg, PA, where we‚??re from. The web address is cvvc.org.
We‚??re splitting the donations; 50% of the donations are going there and 50% of
the donations are going to education on violent crime. I guess that turns into
your definition of the victim of a violent crime, whether it was someone who
was actually attacked in a violent crime or in this case my sister‚??s two
children that were left behind after her death, they are the true victims of
the crime.

How come the album is being released on A-F records? Did
you ever have issues with the major in regards to release material on your own
record label?

Not at all actually. They‚??ve been more cooperative with this
release than most things. The studio songs that are on this release were
recorded in the same session as For Blood and Empire. We had them leftover and in February of this year,
whenever I found out that my sister was killed, I didn‚??t necessarily know what
to do with myself. Music and the band were probably the furthest from my mind
and then as reality and real life started to kick back into gear, there became
this real interest in wanting to have some sort of tangible win out of such a
negative situation.

We put our heads together and realized we had these songs
and we might as well release them and have the money go to people that really
need it. As far as the label situation is concerned, we are currently in the
studio finishing up a full-length album for RCA records that will come out
probably spring of next year. This is a real personal release and they offered
to release it, but we really wanted to keep it in the hands of our friends here
in Pittsburg that help us run the label. It‚??s been a very rewarding experience

When you first found out about the tragedy, were you at
home or out on tour?

I was on tour. We were playing a side show from the tour that
we were on with Billy Talent and Rise Against. We were doing one day off and
just playing with Rise Against. It was really the most surreal experience ever.
The band, Anti-Flag, was doing a coat drive across Canada and most of them were
taking place at malls. There was this particular store, West 49, kind of like
your Hot Topic you‚??re one stop shop for all of your alternative needs; whether
you like them or not they were
giving us this place to facilitate a coat drive and a meet and great. Kids
would come by and donate a coat for the local homeless/community center in a
mall when I got a call from my bother-in-law and all these reactions came out
at once. I was like, "get me the fuck out of this mall and get me home."

Then you have to deal with crossing the border, it was a
difficult thirteen hours to get home from where we were. The real disconnect
that a lot of people unless you‚??re in a band or work in a place where you
travel as much as you do, it‚??s one of the things that you don‚??t realize; you
have real life and you have touring life and so often I catch myself like,
"yeah, just the other day when we were doing that, and someone is like dude,
that was two months ago."

You blur the lines of home and away and home reared its ugly
head into tour life. It was a difficult thing but everybody on the tour, Rise Against
were amazing in helping me get back home, and my bandmates were amazing; the
bus driver was incredible, he didn‚??t sleep at all, he drove straight home. Everybody
was really great to me at that time and I‚??m very grateful to have the friends I
have

Did you get to take some time off touring than?

Yeah, yeah. We had things booked and there was a little bit
of question about whether or not we were going to do our headlining tour in March
which was almost exactly a month later. You kind of realize there are a lot of
things that are out of your control. People deal with things like this in their
own way. I‚??m 100% completely sure that I‚??ll never fully come to terms with
dealing with the death of my sister. I loved her to death and maybe there were
things I should have done to help her to get out of the lifestyle she was in.

You‚??re always going to have these questions and
insecurities. I realized that keeping myself busy and doing things was a lot
better than sitting at home and either being furious with the social standards
that we have in America that make it almost impossible for people to rid
themselves of ghetto life or ghetto mentality, or just my own personal demons
that I have to deal with and that I came face to face with thru this. It seemed
like an escape; playing shows and being in this band is an amazing experience
and I can‚??t tell you how many kids grabbed me and hugged me while we were
playing shows. I really believe that‚??s what punk rock and the scene are there
for.

Would you say you have achieved what you wanted to by
going major, do you think more people hear, understand, and support your ideas?

Yeah, I mean ultimately there got to be some clarification
on why a band like Anti-Flag would sign to a major label. It‚??s really easy to
go, ‚??well if we sign to a major label, more people are going to hear us;
therefore this is a good idea.‚?? The reason that logic is flawed is there is no guarantee
more people are going to hear your music. You‚??re risking, you‚??re gambling a lot
when you do something like this. For us, we‚??ve always wanted to work with new
people and grow the band, and honestly many times throughout our career, people
have come up to us and said, ‚??Hey, I‚??m JoeSmo!! from major label X, do you want to sign?‚?? We would say sure, if you
can tell us we can do whatever the hell we want. Then they would say, you can‚??t
do whatever they hell you want, but you can do some of what you want. We would
say, no thanks we‚??re fine. We found ourselves on Go-Kart, and Fat, and putting
out things ourselves on A-F records because of that. RCA, as evil as the
corporations that funds them may be, the people that run the music side when
you get down to it, those people have been really great to us and let us do the
things we wanted to do.

So in that sense it has been amazing because they have been
able to get us on television shows that we‚??ve never been on, they have been
able to have our songs in places they‚??ve never been. Some people don‚??t like
that and I understand. For us, when we write a song we would like as many
people to hear that song as possible. They have been beneficial. Are we a huge
band and do we want to be a huge band? Not necessarily. We want to write songs
that will hopefully last longer than our band does and someone somewhere will
have access to that song. So far our relationship has been rewarding to both of
us I assume because they have not kicked us off their roster yet.

I think it is time to look towards the future; and not to say that there are many positives, but look toward the positive that have come out of the Bush Administration.

Initially when you first went major, it seemed you got a
lot of criticism because of some of the views of Anti-Flag, do you think that
that criticism has sort of blown over since your message is essentially the
same?

Sure, totally. I think that it‚??s scary for a lot of people
to think that not only a band because of their sound, but also the ideals of
that said band; it‚??s scary to think that the time and effort you invest in
something is going to change. I‚??ve lived with that insecurity many times; there
are many bands that came through the ranks that I felt I loved and I felt
betrayed by, but I realized that you can‚??t let what you think is going to
happen get in the way of what happens. You have to let the songs and the
actions of the band speak for themselves.

I love the last record we made; I think it‚??s a really great
record. I think that when people heard that they realized, oh the label and the
band weren‚??t full of shit when they said they‚??re going to do what they always
do. Again, it‚??s like we‚??ve worked too long and hard to just say, oh man some
fancy label wants to sign us, let‚??s play a song like Justin Timberlake. That‚??s
ridiculous to me! It‚??d be great, it‚??d be cool; I really like Justin Timberlake,
I think he‚??s funny, but I don‚??t think I could do that. I only know how to write
a certain kind of song. Some people think it‚??s shit, some people think it‚??s
good. You‚??re only in control of yourself and your own actions you can‚??t force
people to think one way or another.

Since you are working within the system now, have your
views change about huge conglomerates at all?

Not at all. I think that corporate globalization is just as
evil as it was the day before we signed to a major label. There are many times
in your life when you have to decide what is best for your vehicle, your vision,
and your creative outlet. I think that the short answer to that question is not
at all.

So none of these new songs are going to be on the new
record, these were just leftovers and you‚??re looking on new material for the
next record right now?

They‚??re not on the new album at all. We‚??re recording 18
songs and uh, when is this interview going to post you think?

Before the EP comes out.

Okay, well I‚??m just trying to figure out how many beans I
should spill to you because we haven‚??t talked about the new album at all yet. We
have a really legendary, amazing person [Tony Visconti (David Bowie,
Morrissey)] is helping in the creating process in the form of a producer. We
made the album in fields of green in Lexington, KY [Sainte-Claire Studios]. It
should be finished soon and being prepped and primped and all the things that
an album goes through before it reaches the public, which should be around
early February or early March, the latest, of next year.

Would you say there are any surprising aspects on the
record or anything unexpected?

I think that it‚??s all unexpected. If you listen to the last
two albums that Anti-Flag put out, For Blood and Empire and The Terror State, I think you understand where our stance is on the
George W. Bush administration, the war in Iraq, and corporate globalization. It
is plain to see what our stances are on those two albums so on this record we
talk about a lot of things we‚??ve never talked about before.

Some of them are personal demons being exercised and some of
them are many other things that fought with us ill, like the global landscape.
It‚??s still very much Anti-Flag. There are a lot of sounds that are different,
there are a lot of ideas and
messages that are different. At this point, it‚??s our sixth full-length album
and we don‚??t want to make one that someone‚??s already heard.

Not to mention that when you made the other two albums,
Bush was still going to be in office for quite a long time, whereas now we‚??re
coming up on the next election.

Yeah, yeah. I think it is time to look towards the future;
and not to say that there are many positives, but look toward the positive that
have come out of the Bush Administration. The huge one being, people care about
global politics right now. People are paying attention to what is happening in
the world because a mad man took over the Whitehouse for the last almost eight
years, and has ran our lives and rights through Hell. More people than ever are
energized and excited about progressive ideas and not allowing that to happen
again.

Do you have any thoughts about the 2008 election? Are
there any candidates you somewhat support and why?

Yeah, I mean Dennis Kucinich is really the only one that I
can come out and fully support. He‚??s the only one I can blindly follow; as far
as the other ones are concerned, it is one of those things where I haven‚??t even
began to settle with myself whether or not I should endorse any of these
candidates because it‚??s so fucked. You watch people like Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton, who look to be our saviors, dance around issues like gay marriage,
which is so fucking simple.

How can you in 2008 support someone that doesn‚??t support gay
marriage? That blows my fucking mind. I don‚??t want to openly endorse any of
these people, but it‚??s always been my belief that some change can come from the
people, and I know that all positive change has come from the people. I only
hope that that energy that comes from the last years or Mr. Bush turns into
something positive come election time. I don‚??t necessarily believe we‚??re going
to be replaced with a savior, but I think we‚??ll find ourselves in a better
situation.

Since record sales are low and record stores are closing
nationwide, what do you think is going to happen to the music industry in the
next couple of years? It doesn‚??t seem like the independent record stores are
sustaining and even nationwide record stores like Tower records are closing.

I really
believe that I‚??ve got two statements about that. One: major record companies,
my only analogy for what they are and what they‚??re doing is this, they are very
large, and it takes a very long time for a very large ship to turn around. I
think that‚??s what they‚??re suffering from right now; they‚??re not adjusting at
all to what‚??s going on around them. It‚??s not necessarily downloading or CD
burning, there‚??s just too many shitty bands that are getting pumped out there and
marketed to be the next Nirvana or whatever is supposed to save rock, or
hip-hop, or any of those things that people are just not interested in. People
are deaf, dumb, or mute to it. It‚??s really created climate like it was when a
band like the Beatles, who are my all time favorite band, started where it‚??s a
singles driven market; people only care about that one song.

Once those things get weeded out and punk rock is no longer viable commercially, I think that‚??s going to be fantastic.

I think that that‚??s cool; I think that helps us, when I say
us I mean people that are involved in the punk scene. That‚??s what we need to
weed ourselves out of the people who are here just because it‚??s cool right now
or just because Green Day, or Avenged Sevenfold, or My Chemical Romance had
number one albums and think, ‚??hey wow I‚??m going to start a band that has angst
because I can be a millionaire if I do that!‚?? Once those things get weeded out,
and I‚??m not saying that any of those bands started their band for the wrong
reasons, but you get bands that copy that because they see that and they want
that, it‚??s just human nature.

Once those things get weeded out and punk rock is no longer viable
commercially, I think that‚??s going to be fantastic. I can‚??t wait for the day
when there is the network that there was maybe ten years ago. It still exists, it‚??s
still flourishing right now, and that‚??s the thing that‚??s amazing is that will continue
to be the constant. We‚??ll always be able to set up our own shows, and do our
own tours, and release our own records because we‚??re smart enough and have the
infrastructure to do that. Because that‚??s not glamorous, we won‚??t have a
million copycats out there trying to do the same thing and I think that can
only mean good things for our scene.

Did you still have a second point, or did you just kind
of combine the two points?

Ultimately we‚??ll always be doing this and that‚??s what separates
bands, and musicians, and artists that are in it for the correct reasons from
those whom are not. I like to think that even if there wasn‚??t a RCA records
sugar daddy for Anti-Flag I know we‚??re still going to be a band because we were
a band long before anyone gave a fuck about us. We were playing every basement,
every house, and every place we could play because we loved our songs. I know
that we‚??ll always be doing that. So to your question of I am nervous about
record sales and the decline, not at all.

I don't support gay marriage. Or any marriage for that matter. Marriage is a government institution and should stay out of personal relationships. The less marriages happen, the better. So fuck gay marriage.

huh, well, i think that people should be able to be married if they want to. also it can sometimes help people out financialy. also, i don't think marijuana legalization is more important that gay marriage. the government would just put a huge tax on it and we'd end up buying from our dealers.

Without the government, there is no point to marriage. People can just live with each other and make children, and they don't need to legalise their affair. They kinda can do it already, whether straight or gay (although gays can't make children for obvious reasons...). Government forces people to marry, by offering them some benefits. The other side of the coin is that the family becomes controlled by the government which is a bad thing.

blacks comprise 13% of drug users in this country (most of which marijuana), but make up 38% of drug arrests and 59% convicted....and the sentence disparity has been as much as 49% higher for blackshttp://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/race/

marijuana/ drug prohibition are some of the most unequal policies this country has

maybe you guys shouldn't be so reactionary and face the fact that marijuana prohibition adversely affects a fuck ton more people than illegality of gay marriage

not to mention the fact that marijuana was made illegal to drive Mexican immigrants out of this country in the first place

no, sentence disparity exists plenty with marijuana....there's many many examples of this if you do a little research

the disparity between crack and cocaine sentencing is just a much more sickening example

yeah, and the underclass is populated primarily with minorities

i can kind of understand where you're coming from....so i'd recommend you then look up last year's Justice Department data on automobile drug searches.....the data points very clearly to racial profiling, something the government is practically readily admitting to

or just look at any number of cases of random drug searches in high schools around the country, they almost always have racial undertones

i don't really have time right now to look up examples but they're easy to find

You're being totally ridiculous in trying to equate same sex marriage with the legalzation of marijuana and are being really intellectually lazy by doing it. You've put the two next to each other saying that if gay marriage is allowed, then so should marijuana and, quite frankly, that causal relationship is bullshit and the two should not be pushed together as issues equal / civil rights. I can understand the bullshit libertarian notion that they are theoretically "private" decisions that have been pushed into the public sphere, but come on, a legal contract between two people is not the same thing as the regulation of a categorized contraband.

You can draw a connection between gay marriage and "regular" marriage, claiming that one group of people has access to various legal rights and benefits that another does group not have.

And you can draw a connection between marijuana and legal things like alcohol or various prescription drugs.

But you and pro-marijuana folks are really pushing it with this bullshit of taking gay marriage as a comparison point, which is just a desperate attempt to try to stay relevant, given the fact that they have made a lot of strides for medical marijuana and some for hemp, but have not gained much ground in general marijuana legalization. That said, I should just say that I support the legalization of marijuana and think that the US is incredibly hypocritical with its drug policies.

ok, i see the difference between a legal contract and so-called 'contraband' (which is a demonized word, itself). But, what you don't realize is gays CAN enter this legal contract, they have just as much a right to enter this legal contract as straight people. But as of now, this contract is only legal if it is being made between two people of a different sex.

So, what you Gay Righters are fighting for is changing the law to allow the contract to be made all across gender lines. What the Marijuarriors are fighting for is changing the law to allow Marijuana to be legalized. I guess theres kind of a difference but I don't like splitting hairs into thin sub-atomic particles...

But you are right about the hypocrisy of US drug policy. The FDA allows you to put another mans penis in your ass but they don't allow you to put THC in your lungs. what a bunch of hypocritical bastards!

This issue boils down to America (more specifically, the American Government) accepting people with alternative lifestyles from the mainstream America. I think we can all agree that the American Government should tolerate all alternative lifestyle choices so long as they are safe choices*.

Now, lets look at two groups of people with alternative lifestyles from mainstream America: the Gays and the Stoners. Who has the American Government given more rights too? Stoners can't eat, smoke, vaporize, and (in most states) make fabric out of marijuana. The government will jail you or fine you for any of that. Gays, on the other hand, can fuck each other, fist each other, blow each other, the government allows them to do all that. The only thing they can't do is get married to each other. Now, I believe we should get this done....but it is extremely selfish and dangerous to push one alternative lifestyle so far ahead of another in the political spectrum.

*If you are dumb enough to argue that the stoner lifestyle is more destructive to ones health than the gay lifestyle, i would argue that way more people died from gay sex than weed.

But you and pro-marijuana folks are really pushing it with this bullshit of taking gay marriage as a comparison point, which is just a desperate attempt to try to stay relevant, given the fact that they have made a lot of strides for medical marijuana and some for hemp, but have not gained much ground in general marijuana legalization. That said, I should just say that I support the legalization of marijuana and think that the US is incredibly hypocritical with its drug policies.

for what it's worth, i think it's too early to say we've gained much ground or taken many strides for medical marijuana, hemp, or other legalization

the Federal Government is still circumventing state law and arresting patients and providers rather routinely

i mean there's been millions of dollars spent on lobbying for medical marijuana in the past year alone and this year's Hinchey vote gained 2(!) more votes...i respect the idea of medical marijuana, but i'm not sure it's the most effective means in changing the perception of the drug in this country

i just don't see it getting very far when you're trying to defend the drug to the population as "not that bad" and "for medical purposes only"....the country is a slave to the pharmaceutical companies and people just aren't going to buy that a plant is all that's necessary when there's pharmaceuticals available for everything under the sun (not to mention the pharmaceutical companies sure aren't going to let that perception gain momentum)....plus, there's a lot of perception that the movement looks like a sneaky method of legalization in the population, and that's not going to gain it a whole lot of support

the millions of successful, responsible marijuana users (recreational and medical) need to organize together and work toward dissolving the unfair perception and stereotypes that surround the drug if there's any chance.....it doesn't matter for what reason you use it, it should be a personal choice and that's what needs to appeal to people

Fair enough. Though just look at where the two movements were in mainstream political discussions 35 years ago and look at where they are now.

So, what I've gotten out of this is that baseball is pretty reasonable and FuckYouOiOiOi is totally ridiculous and shameless (also something of a homophobe, or at least just an idiot).

To combine your two posts... As for racial profiling and sentence disparity for marijuana, those aren't legal questions. They're policy enforcement issues. Sentence disparity means that the structure and laws that are in place are not being carried out. Look at the Jena Six. This is a huge issue for minorities AND poor people. But it does not mean that the laws on the books need to change. It means that police, school officials, and the courts need to follow the laws that already exist and be consistent and fair. On the other hand, what we were talking about with disparities in sentencing for crack and for cocaine is an actual question of changing laws and minimum sentence requirements. Sure the instances of racial profiling and sentence disparity in marijuana cases come in arrests that are made because of marijuana being illegeal, but that's coincidental and unrelated to the drug. It could just as easily be something else.

I think that marijuana needs to be equated with alcohol and tobacco in terms of legalization and regulation if the change you are going for is going to happen. As for legalization of other drugs, I think that will only come with a huge swing in terms of perceptions of public health, addiction, and helping people.

And the pharmaceutical industry is just about as awful as big business gets.

http://www.ontheissues.org/TX/Ron_Paul.htm
I think this might better articulate Ron Pauls position on abortion. He seems to generally be in favor of less laws in all circumstances considering he's a libertarian, and it doesn't seem to be true that he is against a womens right to choose.

Good interview, great band, awesome cause for the album (giving the money to the victims and education). There are so many causes these guys are passionate about, and they always do an excellent job at making people aware of them. Even if their shows can be a little preachy, they still make people aware of the many injustices still in this country and world.

Also, I met #2 on an escalator at the Showboat in Atlantic City a few years ago, he was a really cool guy. My condolences still go out to his family, no one should have to go through that.

Self-Righteous Left Wing Rhetoric... Anti-Flag used to be a band, then one day they decided to become a vessel, a vessel to spout left wing rhetoric into the bright-eye faces of 13 and 14 year old suburban white kids, sick of the system and of whatever else. Anti-Flag used to sing about many things: emo, punk scenes, punk stories, poseurs, hell, they even had at least one Oi! song. Today they sing about Bush.

The lyrics and music are endlessly unimaginative. They rail against the current establishment to the point of exhaustion, but they don't say anything new. They don't say anything nobody ever thought of. They probably just rip out pages from The Nation and cut out some superfluos words. The music is little more than a gateway toward the world of progressive politics.

Anti-Flag is still very anti-establishment, but not really, because they merely chose another establishment to align with, instead of being a more unique force. Their music mimics the speeches and lectures of aging college professors, which isn't too bad, but now one of the bands that I used to love seems to have sold out, but not to EMI or Sony, but to Salon and Dr. Zimmerman and Michael Moore. I suppose they are better than the corporates, but they are still the establishment, or what's left of it (sorry bad pun).

I don't disagree with a lot of what they say, but ultimately that is the only way I can rate this album: based on what Anti-Flag says, because there is not much more here.

You're right, they should probably sing about theoretical physics, quantum mechanics and other things that nobody thinks of. Then they'd be true punx.
In case you hadn't actually listened to For Blood and Empire, they have songs about the effect that world trade has on farmers, "economic hitmen", and depleted uranium, hardly typical left-wing rhetoric. Sure there's the odd song about bush or the war in Iraq, and yeah, everybody is already talking about that. But in case you hadn't noticed, the war is still happening and bush is still in office, so obviously the message hasn't sunk in far enough.

And though their older stuff like drunk on punk, go go dancer and your daddy was a rich man were great songs, I'd hardly say they were more respectable than anti-flag's new lyric material.

I don't listen to the band so I can't comment on that part, but you have got something seriously wrong here.

From the interview and what I know of Anti-flags lyrics, to call them left wing is wholly inaccurate. They don't stray very far from typical liberal talking points, and the last time I checked liberalism was nothing more than the defense of status, privilege, wealth and -- ultimately -- capitalism.

I find it hard to see how that makes them anti-establishment, nor do any of their actions as a band really support that conclusion.

You basically pegged them by invoking The Nation and Salon.com although I'm not really behind you're virulent characterization of left wing politics -- although at the end you say you "don't disagree with alot of what they say"

I think the mention of gay marriage in this interview sums up the mentality well -- only a very pampered, oblivious elite would believe that to be one of the important issues of the day. Hell, thats not even the most pressing issue for gay people.

while i dont mind anti-flag and i do think they are doing a hell of a lot more to help than a lot of other bands, i have to say that when i saw them live back in december the whole crowd was basically 14-18 year old girls who didnt know the words and mabye like 20 punks.

Yeah the corporations are so evil, so we will voluntarily work for one and then every other summer we'll go on a corporately sponsored and run "punk rock" tour (what a conspicuous hypocrisy). After all, its sponsored by a skate shoe company and even though their shoes are made by Vietnamese children for half a cent per week they are popular with the skate punks and guys like Fat Mike so they are ok!

#2 can suck my dick, it is impossible to put into words how much of a fake this prick is.

Even so, it does suck about his sister, I've lost people close to me and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

It still would have gotten a lot simply based on the brilliance of the mug shot. If Navel Gazing gets around 150-200, then Tom Gabel would get at least that.

I saw Against Me! for free in Philly this weekend, they put on an excellent show. Only a few other people in the crowd were into the New Wave songs (they played about 6 or 7 off the album), but everyone went nuts for the classics ("Pints of Guiness," "Cliche," "Sink, Florida, Sink").

They played a similar set list about 2 weeks ago in Northampton, minus Cliche. It sucked. They encored with something from New Wave and then (finally) Axl Rose. And the worst shit of it all? Their roadies wouldn't even let us on the stage during Sink, Florida, Sink and Axl Rose...

Heh, I was supposed to go to that side show that they were playing the day he found out about his seester. Got tickets refunded at the door because the premise of paying $40 for one band is fucking ridiculous. (In retrospect, I should've gone anyway - I'm in full agreement with all the hypocrite comments and really was only going to see Rise Against, but it was the principle of paying that much for one band)

And 13 hours to get home? Must have been a fucking shitty driver or had a long ass wait at the border. Pittsburgh is at MOST 6 hours away from here by car.

Do you know the ideology that Hitler preached? Have you ever heard the term "Lebensraum"? The German platform was all about freeing Germany from the oppression of the rest of Western Eutrope.

Hitler just tapped into a vein of antisemitism that was hundreds of years in the making.

Libertarianism says that everyone should have personal freedom -- including the freedom to restrict everyone else's freedoms. This isn't an abstract philosophical point either -- the history of the last 300 years has borne out that allowing people to accumulate vast, near unlimited amounts of personal wealth is the bane of freedom everywhere. Those are the facts, the rest is just a bunch of groked up freemarket bullshit.

"There are a lot of sounds that are different, there are a lot of ideas and messages that are different. At this point, it‚??s our sixth full-length album and we don‚??t want to make one that someone‚??s already heard.

how can he talk with a straight face about corporate globalisation? how can he wear a t-shirt that reads 'revolution'?

anti-flag raise important issues, and they could be doing things that are alot worse than being on a major label - however, the crisis of capitalism and what it is making of our world will never be solved by a bunch of faux revolutionaries preaching change when they themselves took 3 steps forward and 10 steps back.

Find one person who never does anything hypocritical. The thing is that even though they might be involved with a company that has sectors that are terrible, being affiliated with that company in order to effect change and ultimatley tear down that system doesn't seem too bad now does it?
They actually follow their own advise in that they march against the evils in this country and they fiscally support organizations that have moral causes (ie. African Well Fund and the CVVC).How many bands give to charity on a regular basis?
And to address the guy who was talking about doing a show sponsored by a shoe company (I will assume you mean Vans), I would like to know your source for the information about Vietamese children because I have tried to find hard evidence against Vans, but have been unsuccessful.
One more point I would like to make. They might not go out and be reporters and therefore must rely on publications such as salon.com or the nation, but how does that diminish their message? How many people now know about such things as DU that had no idea before?
No one is perfect but I dare you to find anyone who sticks to their guns more than these guys.

You can hate capitalism, the establishment, the man, what ever all you want....that is not going to change shit. On the other hand using your musical talent and decade plus of "punk cred"(for lack of a better word) to spread knowledge about less publicized but equally important causes to people, and specifically young people who have yet to connect there pay check with there political views, is admirable and more than most can take credit for. If they believe they can better further their causes with a bigger label then I choose to respect that. Not love it, just respect it.

Certainly they are one of the most outspoken major label artists, and when I say outspoken I mean actually in there songs. Plenty of artists out there are saying it in the press but still making the kind of music that will get them mainstream attention. Even the most current album WILL offend your average conservative.

I could go on and on about closed mindedness and ignorance to the big picture but I am going to stop here.

why do anarchist punk rockers, who obviously hate authority and government, align themselves with the radical left wing who are all big government socialists & communists?
why? because they all hate the american way of life. if you like socialism & communism go to cuba or france. if you like anarchy go to somalia or france (

why do anarchist punk rockers, who obviously hate authority and government, align themselves with the radical left wing who are all big government socialists & communists?
why? because they all hate the american way of life. if you like socialism & communism go to cuba or france. if you like anarchy go to somalia or france (